BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR DEBRA H. GOLDSTEIN

Judge Debra H. Goldstein is the author of several award winning short stories including “Legal Magic” and “Malicious Mischief.”  Her debut mystery novel, Maze in Blue, was published in 2011.  "Maybe I Should Hug You" won a 2009 Alabama Writers Conclave Nonfiction Award.  A revised version was published online as "More Hugs, Less Fear" by MORE Magazine in April 2010.  For more information visit Debra’s website or drop her an email. 

Debra is offering a copy of Maze of Blue to one of our readers who posts a comment this week. -- AP  

Crafting My Writing

I’m so jealous of Anastasia.  Give that woman a scrap of anything and she can craft it into a masterpiece.  Cloris and her food skills irk me, too.   For crafts or cooking, I not only need to stick to a pattern or recipe, but I limit my efforts to things that come with colored pictures.  Only when I write am I like Anastasia or Cloris.

Whether writing a short story like “Legal Magic” or my debut mystery novel, Maze in Blue, my pattern or recipe calls for the same outcome:  give the reader a light fun time.  To do that, I always start with the same basic ingredients:  my slightly skewered sense of humor, a fact pattern and locations that readers can relate to, and characters that you either quickly identify with or want to murder.

In Maze in Blue, a murder mystery set on the University of Michigan’s campus in the 1970’s, headlines scream “University of Michigan co-ed murdered” and the intrigue begins.  The main character, Denney Silber, only wants to enjoy football games, concerts, and sorority life until her good friend, Helen, is killed in the office of the faculty member Denney most despises.  Her plans now awry, Denney feels compelled to solve Helen’s murder.  She quickly realizes that she can’t trust faculty members, friends, or even the cute guy in Poetry 331.

Although Maze incorporates University of Michigan locations, its faculty offices, sorority activities, and local watering hole universally translate to ones found on any college campus.  Interestingly, it seems that the characteristics of at least one of the students may have been those of you or your roommate.     

Craftwise, because Maze in Blue is a beach, airplane, or just before you turn off the light to go to bed read, I used short chapters and lots of dialogue to keep the pace moving.  Just as I grab a cozy mystery to forget the seriousness of my day job, I want readers to have that same relaxed experience.  The goal is for you to have “fun” with my fiction and to subconsciously think about its more serious themes.

Theme and emotion are more obvious when I write non-fiction.  For example, in “Maybe I Should Hug You,” I wrote about our feelings turning 50, becoming our mothers, and having to address issues we would rather avoid.  In non-fiction, I use elements to make you think or comfort you while my fiction lets you escape.     

I’d like to be like Anastasia or Cloris in more ways, but I’m glad a little of their skills show up in my writings.  Let me know what you think.

Thank you, Debra! And readers, if you do tell Debra what you think, you’ll be entered in the drawing for a copy of Maze of Blue. So let’s hear from you. -- AP